5 Villains Who Deserve a Spotlight in the MCU

5. The Wrecking Crew

They say absolute power corrupts absolutely and few embody this saying better than The Wrecking Crew. Four somewhat unremarkable men each forced to turn to crime; Wrecker, Piledriver, Bulldozer and Thunderball were bestowed the mighty powers of an Asgardian God purely by mistake.

You’d imagine that being blessed with divine power might make you reconsider a few of your earlier life choices. Some may feel that they were destined for a higher calling or at the very least, move on to bigger things than robbing banks and doing hits. The Wrecking Crew on the other hand, are more than happy to just keep doing what they’ve always done: making easy money by any means necessary.

After seeing our share of genocidal aliens and world-conquering robots on the big screen, it would be quite a refreshing change of pace to see a group of villains with ambitions that hit a little closer to home (while still being powerful enough to go toe to toe with some of Marvel’s best heroes). Despite their more modest goals, they are not one dimensional characters. Unlike most other villain teams, The Wrecking Crew are a family, a rag-tag group of misfits bound together by the power they share. No amount of backstabbing and going for one another’s throats has ever kept them separated for long.

With Jane Foster soon inheriting the powers of the God of Thunder in the MCU, there would be no better foil for her than the four ex-convicts who themselves, had recently been given powers of their own.

4.Omega Red

Within the lore of Marvel, few things have been as infamous as the Super Soldier Program and Weapon X. Put those two things together and add a little Soviet Cold War panic to the mix and you get Omega Red. Created with the intention of being the Soviet equivalent of Captain America, Omega Red was also fitted with a retractable tentacle in each arm made of a material similar to Wolverine’s Adamantium Claws.

With the character of Omega Red, there are quite a few ways to properly feature him on the big screen. First, his character can be expanded upon from a small cameo in Deadpool 2. If it goes this route, we would likely be treated to some pretty epic fight scenes between him and Deadpool as well as interesting interactions between him and fellow Russian, Colossus. Or, Marvel could go another route and reinvent his character to focus more on his origins as a Soviet Super Soldier. He could serve as an effective antagonist for a second Black Widow Film or even as an enemy to the Falcon and Winter Soldier.

Few villains are created for the main purpose of being the direct physical and intellectual superior of the hero as Omega Red has. Thanks to his combination of being based on existing heroes and having unique qualities of his own, regardless of how Omega Red is established on the big screen, he will be nothing less than an effective antagonist with a compelling story of his own and intimidating powers to challenge whatever heroes he is facing.

3. Stryfe

Staying on the topic of X-Men and Deadpool villains, Stryfe may be slightly lesser known than the others on this list. However, his origins and background make him a perfect fit for the direction the MCU is headed in now. A clone of Cable from an alternate future, Stryfe is the complete antithesis of his original self. Cruel, arrogant and malicious, Stryfe is armed with psychic powers far exceeding that of Cable’s and dons an almost indestructible suit of armor.

Stryfe would be the perfect villain for a new Deadpool movie or, if Marvel chooses to reintroduce the X-Men into the MCU. His story could be easily tweaked into him being an evil variant of Cable from another universe or an evil child of Cyclops and Jean Grey. Stryfe could even hold his own against existing MCU stalwarts like Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch thanks to his powerful psychic abilities and durability.

While some villains in this list deserve their turn thanks to their iconic origins or popularity, the MCU could serve to make Stryfe far more recognisable to the casual viewer by taking certain liberties with his story to better fit the overreaching narratives of Phase 4. Stryfe deserves a chance on the big screen not just for his good design and powers, but also for his potential to serve as a greater scheme villain in order to flesh out or reintroduce heroes who have yet to be seen in the MCU. Plus, you won’t need to worry about casting since Josh Brolin’s already there.

2. Hobgoblin

Unlike the others in this list, the Hobgoblin is not a single villain but a moniker used at different times by different characters in the comics. This allows for many possibilities in terms of the characters’ transition to the big screen. Among the various incarnations of the Hobgoblin, no two are more prominent than Roderick Kingsley and Ned Leeds, two extremely unique characters with their own distinct portrayals of the persona.

If Marvel wishes to stick with the more traditional supervillain route while at the same time establishing a new character, Kingsley would be the better option. A billionaire and fashion designer with a business empire rivalling Oscorp, Kingsley was able to reverse engineer Norman Osbourne’s Goblin formula and refine it so it would not drive those who drink it to insanity. If we are to see the Green Goblin (which I personally am looking forward to very much!) in the upcoming Spiderman movie, Kingsley’s Hobgoblin would be a natural successor thanks to his improvements to the Goblin formula and technology.

However, Marvel could also go the other route and use the Hobgoblin persona to elaborate on the already established character of Ned Leeds, Peter Parker’s best friend. The MCU could stick to a more faithful adaptation of Ned’s time as the Hobgoblin by having someone else brainwash him into adopting the villainous mantle or work the current overarching plot point of having an evil variant of Ned appear in the main timeline as the Hobgoblin.

Regardless of who it is behind the mask, seeing the Hobgoblin on the big screen is something many fans have been looking forward to for many years now. The best thing about a villain who is portrayed by multiple characters is the sheer number of ways to incorporate them into the story. Perhaps it’s time for there to be a “passing of the torch” arc among the MCU’s villains and the Hobgoblin character in it’s very origins does this perfectly.

Mephisto

Now this may be considered cheating a little since we’ve technically already seen Mephisto in those two Ghost Rider movies but the less said about that the better. There’s nothing wrong with movies taking a few liberties with the source material, sometimes it might even be better. But when the character is so far removed from its original incarnation to the point that it bears no resemblance whatsoever to who they were based on (even his name was different), you might as well consider them a separate entity.

The Mephisto I want to see is the one we all know and (sometimes) love. The big red demon who’s essentially Marvel’s version of the Devil himself. We’ve had big bads from the furthest reaches of space, those borne of our world and now we’ve got one from across time. The only other path we can go from this point is the supernatural.

With a prominence of more magical oriented heroes or more “human” ones in the MCU, Mephisto would serve as a perfect antagonist. He could even be the next Thanos-esque villain if the writers chose for him to be. There may be many planets in the universe but there’s only one hell and Mephisto will do whatever he can to control your soul. There are just so many ways Marvel could incorporate Mephisto into its movies. He could be a soul hungry demon as mentioned earlier or perhaps even the very embodiment of the evil of the Multiverse.

Besides that, Mephisto’s character can also be incorporated in any arc where a hero is forced to sell their soul to him. Only someone with the gravitas of a demon lord could be able to turn a hero to the dark side. The fact that he can pervert even the purest of intentions and can never truly be defeated, shows why he tops this list as not only deserving of a movie role but as the main antagonist of a future phase of movies.